1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an insect trap, and more particularly to an electronic trap for carpenter bees and other insects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carpenter bees are common in many areas, and can cause extensive damage to wooden structures. Carpenter bees cause damage to homes and buildings that are clad with a wooden siding or are constructed entirely of wood, such as a log home or a timber framed building. The carpenter bees bore a hole of up to ¾ inch in diameter into an outside component of a building such as a wooden fascia. The carpenter bee creates a tunnel in the wood that makes an approximate right angle turn once inside the wood. The tunnel is used by the female carpenter bee to lay eggs. This unsightly hole creates not only cosmetic flaws in the building, but the hole will also weaken the wood and create a point at which water can enter, causing further damage to the building. In addition, the hole can be used by other insects that further damage the wood, such as carpenter ants, termites, and the like. The male carpenter bee does not sting, but is a highly aggressive and territorial insect, often times becoming a significant nuisance to humans that are in proximity to the carpenter bee's hole. Often times the carpenter bee holes are near an outside deck or patio, and can greatly annoy the occupants of such a deck or patio.
The related art has disclosed numerous forms of pesticides that are used to kill flying insects such as hornets, wasps, bees, and the like. Such pesticides are often contained in an aerosol can that is capable of spraying an intense stream of pesticide in excess of twenty feet, providing a sufficient trajectory to reach most carpenter bee holes. Many of these pesticides will knock down an airborne insect that contacts the spray. The carpenter bee is a highly agile flyer, and can avoid a jet stream of pesticide while flying. Carpenter bee holes are often times sprayed with a pesticide in an attempt to control their damage. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to spray the carpenter bee eggs with pesticide because the carpenter bee tunnels make a right angle turn from their point of entry. These difficulties make the use of pesticides ineffective, and result in unnecessary and ineffective application of pesticides, causing significant environmental damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,611 entitled “Carpenter Bee Trap” discloses a plastic box with a hole to trap carpenter bees. The premise of such a trap is that the carpenter bees will enter the hole in the plastic box, and will be unable to find their way back out of the plastic box. For the few carpenter bees that are not physically able to locate the hole and exit the box, this leaves a live carpenter bee in the box that requires disposal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a carpenter bee trap that does not rely on the use of harmful pesticides. It is another object of the present invention to provide a carpenter bee trap that does not require the user to dispose of a live carpenter bee. It is another object of the present invention to provide a carpenter bee trap that, in one embodiment of the present invention, uses solar power to kill carpenter bees. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a carpenter bee trap that is effective in eliminating carpenter bees from a dwelling or area.